Storage system



March 25, 1924. v1,488,283

H. D. PRATT STORAGE SYSTEM Filed Jan. 31 1921 z'sheetS-sheet 1 March 25 1924 H. D. PRATT STEM v STORAGE SY 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan; 31

the surplus coal, or other material.

Patented Mar. 25, i924.

COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

STORAGE SYSTEM..

` Application filed January 31, 1921. Serial No. 441,242.

To all ywlw-m, it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWELL D. PRATT, a` citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Storage Systems, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to design a storage system having a bin and a storage iioor and to provide means whereby granular material can be discharged into the bin or ont-o the piling floor and can be removed from the piling floor and discharged into the bin.

This object I attain in the following manner, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view, showing the bin in section and the parts arranged to remove material from the piling floor and discharge it into the bin;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the means for discharging the material onto the piling Hoor direct from the conveyer;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional View of the Vmovable elevator, showing the chute down which the material flows, o-r up which the material is carried by the scoop;

Fig. #i is a view of a modification of the invention showing an elevator at one side of the inclined chute; and Fig. 5 is aI sectional view of the belt conveyer and chute.

l is a storage bin, in the present instance, mounted on posts 2 adjacent a track 23. 24C is a chute through which material is discharged from a belt conveyer 21 through side passages 24a and 24h. The trip-ping mechanism for t-he belt shown in Fig. 5 is an ordinary form of tripping device, and a valve is provided for closing either side passage. This storage bin is arranged at such a height and in such a position that coal, or like material, can be discharged from the bin by gravity, or by means of a conveyer, to a boiler, or other furnace, where it is consrmed. In many instances. a surplus quantity of material is delivered and the bin has no-t the capacity to hold it, therefore., a piling floor, such as 3, is provided, preferably adjacent to the bin, for receiving 0n one longitudinal edge of the bin 1 is a track i and at the edge ofthe piling floor is a tracl; 5. G is an inclined structure supported by wheels '7 adapted to the rail 4L and wheels 8 adapted to the rail 5. This structure can be moved longitudinally in respect to the bin and piling floor. On the structure is a chute 9 extending from the chute 24 tothe piling iioor 3, and a scoopy l0 is arranged to travel over thisiinclined chute 9 and over the surface of the pile of material on the piling floor. This scoop may be arranged toY remove material from the pile andldischarge it into the bin, as in Fig. 1, or it may receive material whichflows down' the chute 9 and over the pile and discharge it thereon.- t

On the structure 6 is a platform 11 supporting the rope drums 12 and 12a and the operating mot-or 13, and on this platform are -the levers for controlling the drums, which are manually operated by a perso-n standing on the platform. A rope 14 passes from the drum 12 around a sheave 15 pivotally connected to end of the piling licor, as shown in Fig. 1, or to a mast 17, as shown in Fig. 2. This rope 14 returns and is attached to one end of the scoop 10. A rope 18 extends from the drum 121` over a sheave 19 at the upper end of the structure 6 and returns under a guide wheel 29 to the opposite end of the scoop 10.

In Fig. 1, the rope let is shown as attached to the rear end of the scoop and the rope 18 is shown as att-ached to the forward end. In this position, when the rope mechanism is operated the scoop receives material from the pile on the piling floor 3 and carries it up the inclined chute 9, discharging it at the upper end of the bin 1.

In Fig. 2, the rope 18 is shown as attached to the rear of the scoop and the rope 14 is shown asv attached to the forward end thereof. The material, as it is discharged from the chute fl, flows down the inclined chute 9 and the scoop removes the material from the bottom of the chut-e and carries itover the material of the pile and discharges it at the apex of the pile, allowing it to flow by gravity free from the chute.

Then the bin is comparatively short and the piling floor is designed t-o receive only a conical pile, then the structure 6 may be fixed as regards any longitudinal movement, but bins are. generally of considerable length and the. piling floor, adjacent a bin, is also of considerable length so that, by mounting the chute structure on wheels, the mecha nism can be moved longitudinally in order a short post 16 at the far to utilize the entire capacity of the bin, as Well as the piling floor.

In some instances, I may locate a bucket elevator 25 at one side of the chute 9 of the structure 6, as sho-W11 in Fig. 4, so that the scoop need only carry material to the base of the elevator, the elevator receiving the material and carrying it to the bin. The chute, in this case, is used only as a.- discharge chute from the belt conveyer to the piling floor.

ll claim:

1. The combination of a bin; a piling floor, and inclined structure extending from the `top oit" the bin to the piling floor; means for distributing material on the piling floor; a conveyer above the bin; and means for discharging vmaterial carried by the conveyer intothe bin or onto the inclined structure.

2. The combination of a bin; a piling floor, and inclined structure extending from the top of the binto the piling ioor; a chute on said inclined structure; an overhead conveyer; means for discharging material from said conveyer into the bin or onto the inclined chute; a scoop arranged to travel over the inclined chute and onto the piling floor; and means for operating the scoop.

3. The combina-tion of a loin; a piling floor, and inclined structure at the side of the bin and having a `chute extending from the top of the bin to the piling oor; longitudinal rails on which the structure is mounted so that it can be moved longitudinally in respect tothe bin and piling floor; an overhead conveyer; means for discharging' material carried by the conveyer into thebin or onto the chute; a scoop; and means for operating the scoop, said scoop being arrangedto travel over the inclined chute and onto the pilingloor.

HOWELL D. PRATT. 

